Footwear

(Acts 7:33). Among ancient peoples, and in the East at the present day, footwear has had many different forms, beginning with sandals, which protected only the sole of the foot, and ending with boots, which covered the whole foot and the knee. It is not easy to give a literal description of some of the parts of footwear, precisely in the form in which it is worn in Egypt, Persia, Turkey, and other places. From certain passages of Holy Scripture we know that the removal of shoes as a sign of reverence was an ancient custom in the East (Josh. 5:15), and since Holy Scripture nowhere mentions footwear among the obligatory priestly vestments, it is thought that they performed divine service without footwear.

To go barefoot also served as an expression of humility and submission (2 Sam. 15:30, Ex. 20:2-4 [as cited]). Hence the expression in the Psalm (60:8 [as printed: 59:10]), “over Edom will I cast out my shoe,” signifying the complete subjection of a given country to a conqueror. The taking off of a sandal from someone’s foot and its being handed to another person served as a significant expression of the transfer of rights and privileges (Ruth 4:7). But a different meaning and significance attached to the removal of the sandal when a sister-in-law removed the sandal from the foot of her husband’s brother before the elders, in consequence of his refusal of marriage with her (levirate marriage) (Deut. 25:9).